Novellus Systems Inc. (NVLS) Chief Executive Richard Hill said the chip equipment market may have reached a bottom and provided second-quarter guidance above Wall Street estimates.

Novellus expects to post a second-quarter non-GAAP per share loss of 35 cents to 45 cents on revenue of $110 million to $125 million. Analysts, on average, were expecting a loss of 45 cents a share on revenue of $104.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

Novellus shares rose 5% to $18.12 after hours on the outlook, along with optimistic comments from Hill.

"Electronics and semiconductor markets have stabilized in the last six weeks," Hill said in a conference call to investors.

-By Jerry A. DiColo; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5670; jerry.dicolo@dowjones.com